Vietnam needs to invest in R&D and 5G transformation to develop artificial intelligence

At the Vietnam Artificial Intelligence Day 2023 (AI4VN) , held on September 22 in Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Pablo Fuentes Nettel, senior consultant of Oxford Insights, presented on the "Government AI Readiness Index" in 2022. This index was released by Oxford Insights based on the analysis of 3 factors: The government's vision for AI, current applied technologies, and the level of access to databases for AI.

Mr. Pablo Fuentes Nettel, senior consultant at Oxford Insights, presented at AI4VN, September 22.

According to the above criteria, Vietnam is ranked 55th out of more than 180 countries surveyed. The Vietnamese Government's AI Readiness Index is 53.96 points, higher than the world average (44.61 points). With this ranking, Vietnam ranks 6th in Southeast Asia. Notably, Singapore and the US are currently in the leading position in the AI Readiness Index in e-government.

Mr. Pablo Fuentes Nettel said that Vietnam has a dynamic economy, a young population and early adoption of new technologies, which is an opportunity to develop AI. In addition, in the field of technology, Vietnam is also highly appreciated in the Southeast Asian region when it owns 2 technology unicorns.

At the same time, he said that the most important factor for Vietnam to achieve the above ranking and have great potential to develop AI in the coming time is the support of the Government, as Vietnam is one of 60 countries with a national strategy on AI development.

However, according to Mr. Pablo Fuentes Nettel, to promote AI technology, Vietnam still has a lot to do, especially investing in the field of research and development (R&D). Investment in R&D in the technology field accounts for only 0.5% of GDP, which is too low.

Vietnam needs to soon transition to 5G technology and improve data infrastructure, as well as data access for AI, as these indicators are still below the world average.

Regarding the AI development strategy in Vietnam, Mr. Huynh Thanh Dat, Minister of Science and Technology, said that on January 26, 2021, the Prime Minister issued a Decision on the "National Strategy on Research, Development and Application of Artificial Intelligence to 2030".

The strategy sets out the goal of "promoting research, development and application of artificial intelligence , making artificial intelligence an important technology field of Vietnam in the 4th Industrial Revolution", contributing to economic and social development and gradually making Vietnam a bright spot in research, development and application of AI in the region and the world.

According to Minister Huynh Thanh Dat, after more than two years of implementing the AI Strategy, Vietnam has achieved some very encouraging initial results. These results were reflected in the report "Government AI Readiness Index" released by Oxford Insights above.

Minister Huynh Thanh Dat said that in the coming time, Vietnam will continue to prepare a team of AI human resources to contribute to promoting the development of a sustainable AI ecosystem, aiming to achieve the goal of making Vietnam a center for innovation, developing AI solutions and applications in the ASEAN region and the world.

One of the advantages for Vietnam to develop AI technology in the coming time is to receive support from the international community. At AI4VN, representatives of the consulates of the UK, US, and South Korea all said they are ready to cooperate and support Vietnam in developing AI technology.

Representatives of the countries highly appreciated the fact that AI technology has been widely interested and applied in Vietnam in recent times, from both the business sector and the Government. AI has entered all economic and social fields in the country such as healthcare, education, life, etc. And this is the future of technology in the coming time.

Countries should develop their own generative AI in their own languages . Countries should create their own artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystems, especially generative and large language AI models.

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